WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Rand Paul (R-KY), Chairman of the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, convened a hearing to consider the nomination of Russell Vought to be Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The Committee will hold a business meeting to vote on his nomination as soon as Monday, January 20, 2025.
During his opening remarks, Dr. Paul highlighted Vought’s prior experience as Director of OMB, demonstrating a proven commitment to advocating for fiscal responsibility and proposing strategies to reduce excessive spending. As Director of OMB, Vought will again play a crucial role in leading President Trump’s budget, overseeing agency use of funds, and coordinating agency activities across the federal government. The OMB Director will also collaborate with Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Dr. Paul has been a strong advocate in the fight against government waste for over a decade. His annual Festivus Report has continually exposed some of the most egregious examples of spending with this last years’ report totaling over $1 trillion.
View the Chairman’s opening statement here.
Opening remarks as prepared below:
Since taking office four years ago, President Biden has added $8.4 trillion to our national debt. To be fair, adding to our national debt is not a partisan issue. In his first term, President Trump also added $7.8 trillion to the national debt.
To put the pace of our federal government’s spending into perspective, for the last 8 years our government has added, on average, $1 trillion dollars to the national debt every 6 months. Now, for the first time in history, servicing our debt has cost us more than our entire defense budget. This is not sustainable.
The Office of Management and Budget, or OMB, is the largest office within the executive office of the president with the primary responsibility of producing a workable budget for the president. Unfortunately, over the past four years OMB failed to address our nation’s fiscal situation and, in fact, took actions that accelerated the country’s fiscal crisis.
Make no mistake, my colleagues on both sides of the aisle in Congress are also complicit in this reckless approach to spending by refusing to put any meaningful guardrails or parameters on taxpayer spending.
For example, each year I put forth a budget plan to balance the federal budget in five years. Last year I put forth a six-penny plan that would cut six percent of total on-budget spending for 5 years until balance. Every single Democrat and 7 Republicans voted against this measure. Instead of taking advantage of an opportunity for fiscal responsibility in FY25, we’ve added another $1 trillion to our deficit in the 4 months since I introduced my budget.
For years, I have been beating the drum on waste in our government. Each year I release a “Festivus Report” highlighting the new and egregious examples of waste I’ve found that year.
Just last month, I released the most recent iteration of this report which identified over $1 trillion in unnecessary and often absurd government spending such as:
- $400,000 to determine whether lonely rats seek cocaine more than happy rats;
- $3 million for ‘Girl-Centered Climate Action’ in Brazil
- $10 billion in maintaining, leasing, and furnishing almost entirely empty government buildings.
- $12 million on a pickleball complex in Las Vegas.
- $4.8 million for “influencer staff” for Ukraine’s Public Affairs.
- $20 million on teaching Pakistan, Vietnam, Colombia, and Brazil how to use fertilizer properly.
- $2 million to New York University to study kids looking at Facebook ads about food.
The list goes on and on and it is beyond time for our Federal government to start taking responsibility for its reckless and irresponsible approach to spending.
While I was disappointed to see our nation’s annual budget deficit grow during President Trump’s first term, I remain optimistic about President Trump’s nominee, Mr. Russell Vought. Mr. Vought has been a consistent advocate for fiscal sanity and has continually suggested strategies to decrease excess spending.
The Director of OMB plays a pivotal role in our economy, especially now. Our government is over $36 trillion in debt, our entitlement programs are facing insolvency, and the Congressional Budget Office predicts an average of over $2 trillion in deficits for the next 10 years.
Mr. Vought is well qualified for this role, having previously served as Director in both an official and acting capacity during President Trump’s first administration, as well as having been the Deputy Director.
As Director, Mr. Vought will be tasked with spearheading the President’s budget. He will also be tasked with overseeing agency use of funds, coordinating agency activities across the federal government, and working with Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy’s Department of Government Efficiency to identify and eradicate waste.
However, unless the new administration has the courage to tackle entitlement reform, the national debt will continue to explode.
I support Mr. Vought’s nomination and I remain hopeful that the incoming administration will take the necessary steps to restore fiscal sanity.
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